Party planning update!

You know what's probably the most annoying thing for a standup comic? Getting booked for a gig that is absolutely destined to fail. I mean, at least there's a chance that you've got a good line for whenever someone says, "Oh! Say something funny!", but there's just nothing you can do about a bad room setup filled with people who don't care. That's why it's going to be really funny if we can get a standup comic for the birthday party (on September 27th!). Ha ha, joke's on them!!

Katherine and I spent last night reviewing people at http://www.dcstandup.com/. The criteria for asking someone to perform at the party are:

1. A good headshot. These two folks were in the lead.

I think that's Paula Dellert on top and Christ White below. Very good headshots.

2. The person has to have a website that actually works and doesn't take forever to use.

3. They can't be already booked on September 27th.

Unfortunately, no one really met all the criteria, but I think we're on the right track. Does anyone know someone who's killed at a few open mics and wants to get some more experience?

Oh, everyone should also google Larry Poon. He's pretty funny, if your tastes are more in the Neil Hamburger line of things. Apparently he's on a "Poonified" tour of Europe during my birthday, although that might be a joke on his website.

28,000 for practice?!

Yesterday's Post had some good coverage of the 'Skins scrimmage game on Saturday out in Ashburn. You didn't go? Really? Well, 28,000 other people did! That's right: 28,000 people watched practice! I would make a lot of comments about how ridiculous this is, but it's probably just as well to let Allen Iverson speak my mind for me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI.

If FedEx Field holds about 90,000 people, then this means that practice draws a third of the crowd for real events. Doing some quick calculations from other parties Katherine and I have thrown in recent years, we see that the real event (my 30th Birthday on September 27) figures to be pretty good.

Here are the practice parties with their attendance:
Labor Day 2006: 30 people
New Year's 2007: 20 people (many of them in tuxedoes)
Labor Day 2007: 35 people (and half-smokes)
New Year's 2008: 15 people
July 4th 2008: 10 people (not an ounce of planning went into this party)

Adding all these numbers up, then multiplying by 3, it looks like we can expect a crowd of at least 330, without adjusting for the weak dollar or the presence of a standup comedian. Don't miss it!